In case you’ve been living under a rock within the past forty five years, you possibly will not have heard the news: Fish oil is useful to you. In fact, it’s one of the most valuable supplements you can take because it affects a lot of aspects of heath and fitness performance. It’s been well established, for instance, in functional medicine research that supplemental fish oil offers benefits that range from nerve health to cardiovascular health to skin and eye health…well, you get the drift. Yet there is much more to this story.

The majority of the fish-oil studies have simply looked at the long-term benefits of the fundamental oils EPA and DHA. While the effective results have been quite conclusive, within the past couple of years the acute effects of fish oil have recently begun to be revealed. Most notably, these types of studies have focused on arterial stiffness and other measures of vascular function. An operating medicine expert recently lectured on cardiovascular health and accentuated that these findings may influence clients that are concerned with both cardiovascular health and athletic results.

The modern research of notice was just documented online that researchers in the UK evaluated 25 people for the short-term effects of adding 4.7 grams of EPA and DHA to a medium-fat meal. These people discovered a decrease in post-prandial arterial stiffness – not within days or weeks, but in just 4 hours or less! From a technological standpoint, the scientists suggested this may have been on account of an increase in a recognized vasodilator called nitric oxide (NO) that boosts blood flow.

Another study demonstrated comparable results, that is, increases in endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS), an enzyme that is used to produce nitric oxide. These benefits correlated with the study by studying the four-hour effects of adding EPA and DHA to a fatty meal. Another study discovered reductions in a stiffness index blood marker at six hours post-prandial.

What does all this mean for coronary heart health and athletes? For coronary heart health, an increase in vasodilation is normally related with a reducing of blood pressure. Blood pressure can be an independent risk factor for heart attack, meaning that even if everything else looks good, if you have hypertension you might be at an increased risk for any heart attack. High blood pressure can also affect the health of bodily organs like the brain, eyes and kidneys. There also may be implications related to atherosclerosis, blood clotting and even angiogenesis (the development of new blood vessels).

For the performance side, most athletes are getting to be conscious of some great benefits of nitric oxide as it relates to improved blood flow to functioning muscle tissues. But the use of fish oil taken preworkout is a different concept. Interestingly, it’s been known for a long time that high-fat meals (with no omega-3s) increase arterial stiffness, so fish oil has been shown to not just invert this effect but in addition improve vasodilation above baseline.

Therefore should you want to make use of every one of these amazing benefits, consider taking fish oil shortly. The benefits are impressive, and the side effects are minimal. There are several solutions to get out there and locate trusted fish oil supplements. You may explore taking pills, or even liquid softgels. There are many different ways to get your hands on supplements. Many people do not get sufficient fish in their diet, so fish oil is the simplest way to make sure you get all the Omega 3 you need.

Based on exploration similar to this and the latest conclusions in the gym, I recommend taking 7 to 10 EPA-DHA 720 Blend softgels with your preworkout food. The research is apparent – begin taking fish oil now!

For those seeking to know more about fish oil benefits, you can find so many reputable sources available to augment your research. You will find that fish oil supplements are a great natural way to improve your health through simple means.